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Beyond The Secret: The Missing Piece in Manifestation
Mastering the Power of Attention (vs Intention)!
Bob Olson is the host of Afterlife TV, author of Answers About The Afterlife and The Magic Mala, and founder of the trusted psychic and medium directory, BestPsychicDirectory.com.
Years ago, I was introduced to the power of intention. It was all the rage. I immersed myself in books like The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science by Judge Thomas Troward, The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer, and The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. So much has been written about the power of intention, yet the power of attention is often overlooked, even though the two are intimately interwoven.
In my experience, most people have a firm grasp of how intention works (e.g., The Secret documentary), but only some have mastered attention. Yet our failure to monitor our attention in life is a common obstacle to manifesting our intentions.
I’ve written this article to draw your focus toward attention vs intention. If you’ve given up on setting intentions or never had a lot of results from the practice, this discussion might inspire you to begin again.
Big Picture Perspective
Let’s begin with a big-picture perspective of what we’re discussing. The most accessible paradigm for understanding these metaphysical concepts is to tap into the idea that there is an unseen connection—call it an energy—that connects everything (people, animals, insects, trees, plants, and fish).
This energy is intelligent. You can pick up the phone to call a friend across the world, and that friend thinks of you seconds before you call. The moment you thought about calling your friend on the phone, you transmitted a signal—a communication—to your friend through this energy.
Ring! Ring!
“Hello?”
“Hey Samantha, it’s me.”
“Oh my god, I was just thinking of you!”
If we lived below the ocean, this energy would be easier to describe because all the fish and plants are connected by water. We can see and feel the water and know there’s a connection between the ocean water off the coast of Massachusetts, USA, England, and Africa (the Atlantic).
The ocean water is a more straightforward representation of an energy that connects everything that lives in it. Still, there is also an energy that connects the people of Boston, London, and Cape Town. Yes, we have air, but it’s deeper than that. This energy allows instant connection and communication between two people on opposite sides of the earth.
Remote Viewing
A fantastic representation of how this divine energy of intelligence works is demonstrated with an exercise called “remote viewing.”
Years ago, I experienced remote viewing in a workshop, illustrating this intelligent connection. The workshop facilitator showed the class a sealed envelope that contained a photograph, and the class was instructed to draw a picture of what was in the photo. Not until after everyone had drawn their picture was the sealed envelope opened and the photograph revealed. Naturally, most students shook their heads in disbelief that anyone would “guess” what was in the photograph, yet about five percent of the students drew a recognizable depiction of what the camera had captured.
Even better, remote viewing is not limited to photos inside envelopes. Serious remote viewers can identify what a person is looking at across the world. For example, a person in England can look at a natural scene or architectural structure, while someone in the United States can draw what the person in England sees. While it seems out of this world, people have been doing this with amazing accuracy for decades. It is so effective that even the CIA has researched and experimented with this ability.
Naturally, some people are better at remote viewing than others, just as with psychic and mediumistic abilities. However, my point in discussing remote viewing in this article is to illuminate the energetic “connection” between all things. The fact that anyone can communicate telepathically in this manner is evidence that this spiritual web, universal intelligence, or life force exists. Once we recognize its existence, we are better prepared to utilize it.
Intention vs Attention
Now that we’ve identified the conduit (energy) that carries information, let’s examine how intention and attention communicate within this energetic field.
“Intention” is when we intentionally use our thoughts to communicate our life’s desires to this intelligent energy. For instance, we use the power of intention when we request something in prayer. Intention is focused on the future.“ I want to create this circumstance (a better job or loving relationship) in my life.” Or, “I want to attract something material (money or a new car) into my life.”
“Attention,” on the other hand, is what we focus on in the “now” using our thoughts, words, time, and energy. Attention takes place in the present. For instance, if our intention is to attract more money into our lives, we might go back to school to earn a degree that will earn us a promotion. While our intention is to get a promotion in the future, our attention is focused on going to school now to gain the education or skills needed for that promotion.
Intention is focused on the future. Attention is focused on the present.
We communicate with the Universe (Infinite Intelligence) with both our intention and our attention. Praying for a better job (intention) tells this energy what we wish (intend) to create in our lives. Going back to school (attention) communicates to this energy that we are committed to making it happen.
The Four Types of Attention
There are various types of attention. I’ll break it down into four types.
The first type of attention is thinking. Again, remember that attention is what we do in the present moment. So after we set our intention for the future (I intend to start a new business), we focus our attention on thinking about what we can do to help that happen.
The second type of attention is talking. We might discuss our intention with friends or family members. In this sense, we’re thinking aloud, meaning we’re taking the thinking phase to the next level by verbalizing it to others.
You might notice that each of the four types of attention grows in power. Thinking has power, but not as much power as talking. Once we create a dialogue with someone, our emotions get involved. I’m referring to emotions like enthusiasm, passion, and joy.
The third type of attention is writing. After discussing your intention to create your new business with a friend, you might go home and write down the steps you’ll need to take to make it happen. Some people will create a formal business plan. This attention also elicits emotions as you write.
The fourth type of attention is action. You’ve thought about your business. You’ve discussed it with people. You’ve even written down what you need to do. Now, you can begin tackling that to-do list. You might create some business cards, lease office space, and send out an email to everyone you know announcing your new business. Just imagine your positive emotions bubbling over at this point.
What We Focus Upon Expands
When you talk about your life or write about it in a journal, you are communicating to this energy we’ve been discussing with the power of your attention. Your intention is to get a new puppy, so your attention is focused on visiting animal shelters. Setting the intention to get a puppy tells the energy what you intend to do. Looking for a puppy at shelters (action) communicates to this energy that you are serious about making this happen. The action (attention) empowers the intention.
It’s essential, however, that we understand that this energy responds to what we feed it. If we feed it positive attention (and emotion), it will respond with positive results. If we feed it negative attention (and emotion), it will respond with negative results. While I understand one could make this complicated, let’s keep it simple. All I’m saying is that energy in equals energy out.
On the positive side, if you talk about how excited you are to get a new puppy, you are drawing that focus into your life. You might even mention it to someone who knows of a puppy that someone is giving away.
On the negative side, if you complain about how broke you are, you are activating the energy of attention. The more you say it, the more you hold that energy. And the energy of the Universe that we’ve been discussing receives that message that you are struggling financially. It’s not that you are attracting financial struggle so much as you are failing to lift your energy toward financial success. So, rather than change your life for the better, you sit stationary in the energy that you keep reaffirming.
Negative thinking is how we work against our intentions, and it comes so naturally to most people. We don’t need to feel bad about it. We simply need to acknowledge it and watch out for it when we do it.
If you keep talking to your friends about those mice in your basement, your vibration will be that of a person with mice in their basement. What you want (intend) is to have a mice-free basement, but you are working against that intention by reinforcing the image you hold about a basement full of mice. You talk about it (attention), and any emotion you have about it just adds fuel to that attention.
Interestingly, it’s part of the human condition to complain, ruminate, moan, and even worry. We all do it from time to time. The key is to minimize it by catching ourselves doing it and stopping it once we notice it. Once we become aware of it, we need to change our inner narrative toward something more empowering. It might look like this...
You might say to a friend, “I just can’t lose any weight.”
Then you hear yourself say it, and you catch yourself.
“Nope! That’s not true. I can lose weight. I just need to do something different to make that happen.”
We all know the definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Here is a helpful example from my own life illustrating how we can unconsciously exhibit negative attention. Since what we focus upon expands, it’s wise to pay attention to our thoughts, words, and actions.
On August 4th of last year, lightning struck a tree in our front yard. Half the tree split down the middle (vertically), exploding in all directions. I immediately called a tree service to remove the half of the tree still standing.
Three days later, but before the tree service arrived, the top of the tree struck by lightning broke off, busting another tree in half and crushing a fence on our property. Now I had to call a fence company to repair the damage and pay the tree service to remove two trees.
About a week later, we realized that the lightning had fried the thermocoupler to our well pump. We had to get a new well pump.
When the well service replaced the pump, they contaminated our water. It took a week to notice it, decontaminate the well, and drain the chlorination out of our pipes.
After the lightning strike, we also noticed that a ceiling fan and a few outlets no longer worked. It took an electrician a few weeks to arrive.
Once the electrician fixed the outlets and replaced a circuit breaker, we discovered that lightning had also destroyed a propane heating stove. The entire inner workings of the stove had to be replaced. Now we had to call the stove repair service.
A month later, once the weather got colder, we realized we didn’t have any heat. The lightning destroyed a computer system and circulator pump that are part of our heating system. I had to hire an HVAC service to make the repairs.
As all of this unfolded over about four months, I was telling friends the story of the ongoing lightning damage. As you know, I love storytelling. As part of the story, I kept referring to these repairs as “the gift that kept on giving.” It was funny to me, but it seemed that every time I made the joke, we discovered more damage from the lightning.
I finally recognized what I was doing and knew that I’d better stop verbalizing the story unless I wanted to find more damaged equipment. It took me a while (I’m only human), but the ordeal ended as soon as I stopped talking about it.
My intention was to stop finding new lightning-related damage, but my attention was focused on telling the story about “the gift that kept on giving.”
The Secret Sauce Related to Attention
As I alluded to earlier, the power of attention can work in both the positive and negative, and a lot of the power in our attention comes from the emotions we are feeling in association with that attention. The secret sauce, therefore, is that our present-moment feelings add fuel to our attention.
This works with intention as well. By adding emotion to both our intention and attention, we are increasing the potency of that energetic vibration, which is ultimately a communication to the Universe.
Since we’re focused on attention, our emotions serve as a litmus test of whether our attention is positive or negative. Consequently, to know if our attention is positive or negative, we merely need to identify how we’re feeling when our attention is given to our intentions.
When you think about that new puppy you want, does it make you feel happy? Yes! When you think about your financial struggle, does it make you feel happy? No! This is why we focus our attention on the positive. Rather than think about your financial struggle, you want to focus your attention (thoughts, discussions, journaling, action) on increasing your income or reducing your debt, not on your financial struggle.
Feelings fuel our attention. How do I feel when I think, talk, write, or act on my intention? Thinking about what we want to create in our lives (intention) is almost always positive. It is our attention that leads us astray. Are you paying attention to what you want or what you don’t want? You’ll know by how it makes you feel.
Consequently, even if you are “joking” about the lightning strike being the gift that keeps on giving, it still causes you to feel negative feelings about the costly repairs you had to endure. I wasn’t even complaining about it. I thought I was telling a story. But I can’t deny that telling the story made me feel a bit down whenever I told it. And that’s how I recognized that my attention to it (my story and joke) was in the negative.
On the contrary, if your attention is focused on the benefits of what you’re doing to improve your health, like telling people about your new exercise and eating regimen, this will make you feel good, hopeful, and empowered. Telling that story raises your energy, which only makes you want to continue exercising and eating well.
In other words, our attention attracts what we’re focused on into our lives, but even more importantly, the feelings we feel in relation to our focus boost the creative power of our attention.
Classic Attention Story
I read about a small business owner whose income had dropped after the events of 2020. He was aware of the power of intention but was unable to turn his business around with intention practices alone. So, he hired a marketing consultant to create an advertisement for his company. The marketing consultant designed the ad and sent it to the business owner, but never heard back from him.
The marketing guy who created the ad got curious and called the business owner months later to ask how the ad was working out. The business owner told him that business picked up instantly. He confessed, however, that he never used the ad. The moment the business owner hired the marketing consultant to create the advertisement, his business increased and never stopped.
Once the business owner gave attention to his intention of helping his business grow by hiring the marketing guy, the attention alone set energies in motion that positively affected his business. He never even needed to use the ad because his business had already picked up.
Expectations Are Attention
When we set an intention for a future outcome, we often have expectations about what that will look like or how it might arrive. For instance, if your intention is to get a new puppy but you’re thinking of a larger breed like a Labrador or German shepherd, you might overlook a Yorkshire terrier or Dachshund that crosses your path.
There’s an old tale about a man whose boat capsized and sank, leaving him to tread water in the ocean. When a boat showed up to rescue him, the man refused to get in the boat, saying, “Move on. I have faith that God will save me.” A few hours later, as the man was getting weary and weak, a helicopter saw the man and lowered a basket to save him. Again, the man refused, saying, “No, thank you. I have faith that God will save me.” Eventually, the man grew tired and drowned. When he reached the afterlife, he scolded God, saying, “I had faith in you. Why did you let me down?” God, of course, said, “Let you down? I sent you a boat and a helicopter.”
Expectations are our imagined version of the future, which can blind us to the version that the Universe knows is best for us. In this way, our expectations can affect our attention (thoughts, words, actions) because we believe we know how life will unfold. Perhaps a small-breed puppy will be better for us in ways we can’t imagine.
When we set an intention and follow that up with our attention, it’s helpful to trust whatever shows up rather than ignoring the boats and helicopters that have come to save us.
NOTE: If you read The Magic Mala, you might recall that it helps to add “this or something better” when creating our intentions. This simple addition teaches us to allow the Universe to choose the details according to what’s best for us.
Final Thoughts
If you read my article on the aura, you might better grasp this concept of attention. In that article, I talked about changing my aura (energy field) simply by thinking about a joyful memory or a sad memory. That’s the gist of it.
Since the power of attention is about what you’re focused on in the present moment, then it makes sense to focus your thoughts, conversations, writing, and actions in ways that move you toward what you want (not what you don’t want).
In a nutshell, attention is the answer to the question: What do I need to think, say, write, or do to help my intention come to fruition? The answer will guide you.
With love,
Bob
PS, There are some interesting articles released from the CIA about remote viewing. If you’re interested, Google “the CIA and remote viewing” to view results from the cia.gov website.
Bob Olson is the host of Afterlife TV, author of Answers About The Afterlife and The Magic Mala, and creator of the reputable directory of psychics and mediums, BestPsychicDirectory.com. His latest venture is Bob Olson Connect, where you can read Bob’s articles before they become books.
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Bob, I’ve been meaning to comment on this. It’s your best, most thorough and helpful article yet! Expanding or breaking down the different types of attention is super helpful, as well as learning about the ‘secret sauce’. I have taken classes in remote viewing, I did okay, but not great. It was very (third) eye opening. Pun intended. I too have told my ‘never ending story’ of woe and now catch myself. I’ve had problems with mice, being in a rural area. And recently started telling my story of the ants on top of the dishwasher. I told the story too often to the point where I opened the dishwasher and inside were dozens of those teeny, tiny sugar ants! I realized it was time to stop my story telling about ants. (They have now left.) One time I made a verbal slip, but there was great truth in it. Back when I worked at a very busy research company, I often was on the team that had to miss the annual Christmas party due to the ever-present deadlines. The last time that happened I remarked to a co-worker, “That’s the life of my story!” Instead of saying…the story of my life. When I realized what I had said, I had to agree with my own words. TRUTH! My ‘story’ of always believing I’d miss that party, was created by my own beliefs! And it was delivered in such a way as to make me absolutely humbled, on the spot. THAT was a huge wakeup call from the Universe, via my own mouth! I had to laugh out loud. I think my guides have a great sense of humor. So much good information in your article. I will most likely re-read this from time to time, in order to take it to heart. THANK YOU! And keep up the good work.
I love your examples, Bob! You make it all so clear. My small group has been working on setting intentions at a full moon. Your article makes it all seem less mysterious with the added suggestion of watching how we think about our intentions—our attention.
Thank you.